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An amusing spat in the Third Circuit over a not-very-brief sentencing brief

By Douglas A. Berman

This piece from The Legal Intelligencer, which is headlined "Convicted Politician's Attorneys Urge Federal Appeals Court to Bounce Big Brief," reports on a preliminary bout in the Third Circuit that is kicking off an appellate fight over the proper sentence for a high-profile state politician. Here are some details: If appellate briefs are a war of words, it would seem that the lawyers for Vincent Fumo, the imprisoned former Pennsylvania state senator, are asking for a little arms control. Prosecutors recently filed a 281-page opening brief in an appeal that challenges the 55-month sentence imposed on Fumo and the one-year term imposed on Fumo's longtime aide, Ruth Arnao, but defense lawyers are now urging the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the brief, arguing that it is simply too long and sets the stage for the court and the lawyers to be swamped in paper...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 15, 2010 (boomark / email).